Framework of partition walls

ABSTRACT

A framework for partitioning walls for rooms of houses, comprising in cross-section U-shaped floor, ceiling and wall profiles (1) which are designed to be fastened to the room&#39;s floor, ceiling and walls, together with upright profiles (15), the bottom (9) of the ceiling and floor profiles having an engagement section which projects from this, midway between the flanges (8), and which is designed to engage the respective end sections of uprights (15), thereby preventing movement of these perpendicular to the partitioning wall plane. According to the invention, the floor, ceiling and wall profiles (1, 2 and 3) are the same in cross-section, and the contact sections are composed of points or tongues (7) which are provided evenly spaced in the profiles&#39; longitudinal direction. The uprights&#39; (15) flanges (19) are designed to grip the pins and prevent mutual movement of the ceiling and floor profiles and the uprights in the ceiling and floor profiles&#39; longitudinal direction during assembly of the wall.

This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 08/050,429 filedApr. 30, 1993 now abandoned, which is a continuation of PCTInternational application Ser. No. PCT/NO91/00136 filed Nov. 4, 1991.

A framework for partitioning walls, especially modular walls, for roomsin houses, comprising floor, ceiling and wall profiles, which isdesigned to be fastened to the room's ceiling, floor and walls andsupport panel boards respectively, the profiles running on the plane ofthe partitioning wall, and upright profiles, hereinafter calleduprights, designed to run vertically between the floor and ceilingprofiles, where the profiles' cross section is principally U-shaped andcomprises a bottom section, hereinafter called bottom, and two flangesections, hereinafter called flanges, and the bottom of the ceiling andfloor profiles has a row of pegs or pins which are provided evenlyspaced in the profiles' longitudinal direction and protrude from thebottom, midway between the flanges, and which are designed to engage therespective end sections of the uprights.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

From U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,835 there is a known framework of theabove-mentioned type, comprising an upper and a lower horizontal profileand a row of vertical upright. Between the flanges of the horizontalprofiles there projects inwards from the bottom a channel section whichruns in the profile's longitudinal direction, and in the bottom of theend section of the uprights there is provided a slot which is designedto receive the respective channel sections. Thus the channel sectiononly counteracts movement of the uprights in the horizontal profiles'transverse direction.

For mounting of the wallboards a number of hooks which are located alongthe vertical edge of the wallboards have to be connected tocorresponding rows of holes in the uprights to ensure, amongst otherthings, accurate positioning of the uprights in relation to thewallboards. The hooks therefore have to fit the holes exactly. Thus theconstruction is expensive and complicated and the assembly work awkward.

It is not possible to place the uprights between the wallboards'vertical edges, since any uprights which are provided here are notsecured and could fall. The mid section of the wallboards' couldtherefore bulge in or out, thus detracting from the appearance.

Furthermore, the horizontal profiles' channel sections abut against therespective end sections of the uprights. As each upright is composed ofa single bar, it and thereby the wallboards, could be exposed to abuckling load in the event of any mutual movement of the floor and theceiling.

The object of the invention is to provide a framework which is notencumbered with the above-mentioned disadvantages.

The framework according to the invention is characterized by thefeatures in the claims presented.

In the following section the framework will be described in more detailwith reference to the drawing which illustrates embodiments of aframework according to the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a side view of a first embodiment of a framework for apartitioning wall with panel boards not inserted, mounted between theceiling, floor and a wall of a room in a house, on a slightly smallerscale than the scale of the other figures.

FIG. 2 is a section along the line 2--2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a section along the line 3--3 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a section along the line 4--4 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a section along the line 5--5 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a section corresponding to that which is illustrated in FIG. 3of a ready-assembled wall.

FIG. 7 is a section corresponding to that which is illustrated in FIG. 4of a ready-assembled wall.

FIG. 8 is a section corresponding to that which is illustrated in FIG. 2of another embodiment of an upright.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

As illustrated in FIG. 1 the framework comprises a lower profile orfloor profile 1, an upper profile or ceiling profile 2 and a sideprofile or wall profile 3, which, e.g., by means of screws 38, 36, 37,can be fastened to the floor 4, ceiling 5 and a wall 6 respectively ofthe room, and which runs on the same vertical plane 39 (FIG. 3), i.e.the plane in which the partitioning wall runs. The profiles are U-shapedand equal in cross section and their openings face into the room.

As is also illustrated by, e.g. FIG. 2, there is provided at equalintervals in the profiles' longitudinal direction and in their bottoms 9a U-shaped kerf, whose legs face the same way in the longitudinaldirection. The pegs, pins or tongues 7 thus formed are bent in betweenthe profiles' flanges 8, so that they run vertically on these and theprofile's bottom 9. The width of the tongues is principally so muchsmaller than the distance between the profile's flanges 8 that on eachside of this between the flanges 8 and the tongue 7 there can be fitteda wallboard 10, 11, as is better illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7.

The framework further comprises vertically running uprights 15, 16 and17 which are provided between the ceiling and floor profiles. These tooare substantially U-shaped in cross section. According to a firstembodiment of an upright the inside width of the upright's bottom 18 isslightly larger than the width of the tongues 7, and the upright'sflanges 19 have back or bead sections 20 opposite each other which aredesigned to, grip around around the tongues when these are inserted intoassociated end sections of the upright with the tongues extendingagainst beside and principally parallel to the bottom 18, thuspreventing mutual movement of the tongues 7 and the upright in theceiling or floor profile's longitudinal direction when the upright andceiling and floor profiles are assembled in this manner.

The upright may be constructed of a relatively thin plate material ande.g. of metal or plastic, thus permitting the flanges 19 to bendelastically to some extent relative to the bottom 18. This makes itpossible to assemble an upright of two frame profiles which run inparallel with their openings facing each other, thus permitting them tobe pushed telescopically into each other as illustrated in FIG. 5. Thisallows the upright to be used later for walls of lesser or greaterheight than the original, and during the first assembly of a wall it isnot necessary to cut the upright pieces with great accuracy, which makesassembly simpler and faster, since it is a simple matter to shorten orextend the upright by telescopic mutual movement of the pieces.

In order to ensure that such telescopic uprights with pieces situatedabove one another run vertically when the uprights' end sections arefastened to pairs of tongues of the ceiling and floor profiles, theseprofiles must be located in such a way that one tongue 7 of a pair oftongues is slightly displaced in relation to the vertical line throughthe other tongue, as illustrated in the left-hand section of FIG. 1.

If each upright is composed of a single profile, the profiles arearranged in such a way that the tongues of the pairs of tongues lie onthe same vertical line, as illustrated in the right-hand section of FIG.1.

If, when the uprights are assembled, there is a clearance between theirend sections and the bottom of the adjacent ceiling or floor profiles,and the uprights are not firmly connected to the tongues, the uprightswill be able to move in relation to the tongues, thus permitting mutualmovement of the ceiling and the floor.

Alternatively, in the case of the last-mentioned aligned arrangement ofthe pairs of tongues, uprights can be provided comprising an upper and alower profile element whose openings face the same way, together with arelatively short central profile element whose opening faces theopposite way, an end section of the upper and lower profile elementthereby being telescopically inserted into the respective end sectionsof the central profile element.

A wallboard 10, 11 whose width may be a multiple of the distance betweenneighbouring tongues and whose height is slightly less than the distancebetween the floor profile's bottom and the lower end 22 of the flanges 8and the ceiling profile 2, can be mounted by holding it slightly on aslant and first inserting it into the ceiling profile between itstongues 7 and one of its flanges 8, whereupon it is swivelled until itis aligned vertically and its lower edge is situated immediately abovethe space between the tongues and a flange of the floor profile, andthereafter it is lowered until it abuts against a bottom strip or block21 which has been inserted in the floor profile in advance, and which ishigh enough to ensure that the upper edge of the wallboard cannot beswung outwards past the lower edge 22 of the ceiling profile.

If the wallboard has to constitute an end board of the partitioning walland project from a house wall, it is finally pushed in the floor andceiling profiles' longitudinal direction until one of its vertical edgesis situated between the wall profile's tongues and one flange.

If the wallboard's height is slightly greater than the distance betweenthe floor profile's bottom and the lower edge 22 of the ceilingprofile's flanges 8, but less than the distance between these profiles'bottoms, the wallboard can be mounted without the use of the block 21,the wallboard being first brought into abutment against the bottom ofthe floor profile and then bent to such an extent that the distancebetween its horizontally running edges becomes so small that the upperedge of the wallboard can pass the above-mentioned edge 22, whereuponthe wallboard is straightened out.

After installation of the wallboards, their edge sections and possiblysections between the edge sections can, e.g., be screwed to the flangesof the uprights and the floor, ceiling and wall profiles.

A known per se hat profile 23 can finally be mounted whereby it isfastened to the wallboards, e.g. by means of screws, in order to sealthe joint between two wallboards.

FIG. 8 illustrates a second embodiment of an upright 35. This too isU-shaped in cross section, but the flanges are substantially level andrun in parallel, or possible slightly towards each other in thedirection away from the bottom.

When the tongues of the ceiling and floor profiles are inserted into therespective end sections of such uprights, the flanges of the uprightswill abut elastically against the side edges of the tongues. In thiscase the frictional forces will be sufficient to counteract mutualmovement of the tongues and the upright, both when attempts are made tomove the uprights in the ceiling or floor profile's longitudinaldirection and perpendicular to this, thus allowing the wallboards to beinstalled without the risk of displacement of the uprights.

After installation of the wallboards, sections of these, as mentionedabove, are fastened to the uprights by means of, e.g., screws, whichprevents any movement whatsoever of the uprights in the floor andceiling profiles' longitudinal direction.

If there is a clearance between the wallboards and the bottom of theceiling profile, the wallboards will not prevent a mutual verticalmovement of the ceiling and the floor, thus preventing the partitioningwall from being exposed to a destructive buckling load.

It is possible to produce the floor, ceiling and wall profiles of abottom piece and two flange pieces, the side pieces, e.g. along onelongitudinal edge, having a slot whose width approximately correspondingto the thickness of the bottom piece. Each longitudinal edge of thebottom edge can be pressed into the slots of the respective flangepieces and secured there by means of mutual force fit, snap fasteners,glue or the like.

Furthermore, the bottom of the floor, ceiling and wall profiles can beconstructed without tongues, a rail with such tongues or pins beingreleasably attached between the flanges and to the bottom. After theprofiles have been attached, the rails can be connected to them. Thisarrangement facilitates accurate positioning of the tongues and apossible subsequent alteration of the wall, e.g. insertion of doors,windows, etc.

Thus the framework of the above-described partitioning wall comprisesonly one profile type which is used for attaching the wall to the room'sfloor, ceiling and walls, and only one profile type which is used forthe wall's uprights, since these uprights can be telescopicallyconnected. Thus the production and assembly of the partitioning wall isextremely simple and cheap.

We claim:
 1. A framework for modular partitioning walls, especiallymodular walls, for a room of a house, the room having a ceiling, floorand walls, comprising:floor, ceiling and wall profiles adapted forfastening to the room ceiling floor and walls in an orientation definingthe plane of the partitioning wall, each of the floor, ceiling and wallprofiles including a base section, and two flange sections to present aprincipally U-shaped cross section, said floor and ceiling profileshaving similar cross sections with each including a plurality of tongueelements protruding from their respective base section, said tongueelements being positioned between the flanges of their respectiveceiling and floor profiles, opposite vertical edges of said tongueelements defining a width of said tongue elements; panel boardspresenting opposed vertical surfaces defining a panel board thickness;and upright profiles adapted to run vertically between the floor andceiling profiles, each of the upright profiles including a base section,and two flange sections to present a principally U-shaped cross section,the respective end sections of the upright profiles being adapted forelastic, telescopic engagement of said tongue elements, the flanges ofsaid upright profiles being generally resilient and spaced apart by adistance just smaller than the width of said tongue elements whereby theends of said upright profiles are adapted to each resiliently grip asingle respective tongue element protruding from the base of theappropriate ceiling and floor profile in a telescoping fit, said tongueelements of said floor and ceiling profiles respectively being generallyoriented in a single row and said base sections of said ceiling andfloor profiles being clear of protrusions other than said tongueelements such that the end of a respective upright profile is engageablewith a desired tongue element upon horizontal motion of said end of saidupright profile relative to said desired fixed tongue element, and eachvertical edge of said tongue elements being spaced apart a slightlygreater distance from the respective flanges of the floor and ceilingprofiles than the thickness of the panel boards whereby said end edgesections of said panel boards are received between the upright profilesand the respective flanges of floor and ceiling profiles for abuttable,retaining engagement of the opposed vertical surfaces of said panelboards by said floor and ceiling profile flanges and said uprightprofiles.
 2. The invention as claimed in claim 1, each of said tongueelements defining a generally upright plate plane.
 3. The invention asclaimed in claim 2, said tongue elements each comprising a piecepartially cut from the base section of a respective profile, said piecebeing bent upwardly to present said generally upright plate plane. 4.The invention as claimed in claim 2, said tongue elements eachcomprising a plate with a right angle bend having first and secondorthogonally oriented legs, one leg of said bend being fixedly coupledto the base section of a respective profile.
 5. The invention as claimedin claims 1, 2, 3, or 4 each of the upright profile flanges havingrespective beads projecting inwardly toward each other whereby saidtongue elements are engageable between the base section and said beadsof a respective upright profile.
 6. The invention as claimed in claim 5,each of said upright profiles comprising two uprights pieces with thesame cross section oriented such that the cross section openings faceeach other, and are telescopically received into each other.